


Big Man’s Off Day

by scribble_stars



Series: Dream SMP Grocery Store AU stories!!! [1]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Grocery Store, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, Hurt TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Hurt/Comfort, SHIPPERS DNI, TommyInnit Needs a Hug (Video Blogging RPF)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-10
Updated: 2021-01-10
Packaged: 2021-03-14 19:42:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28676130
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scribble_stars/pseuds/scribble_stars
Summary: Tommy gave his all to his work and school life. Even still, his parents find a way to criticize his every move. After a long day at school and facing his parents, he has a breakdown in front of one of his managers, one of the people he looks up to. However, what comes of it may just show that Tommy being vulnerable was one of the best things he could do.——Tommy has a breakdown at work after getting yelled at by Dream following a harsh talking to from his own parents, but his found family is there to help——this is for the dream SMP grocery store AU by getouttamyswamp here on Ao3 :-)
Relationships: Clay | Dream & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), No Romantic Relationship(s), TommyInnit & Phil Watson, Tommyinnit & Toby Smith | Tubbo, Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit
Series: Dream SMP Grocery Store AU stories!!! [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2105640
Comments: 67
Kudos: 1075
Collections: Dream SMP Grocery Store AU





	Big Man’s Off Day

**Author's Note:**

  * For [getouttamyswamp](https://archiveofourown.org/users/getouttamyswamp/gifts).
  * Inspired by [DreamSMP Grocery Store AU headcannons](https://archiveofourown.org/works/28393056) by [getouttamyswamp](https://archiveofourown.org/users/getouttamyswamp/pseuds/getouttamyswamp). 



> hello hello!!! i love the grocery store AU, by getouttamyswamp, and after reading one of the angst head cannons, i knew i had to write this one
> 
> (what can i say, i love tommy angst :-))

It was a few weeks after Dream and the rest of the managers had made Tommy take a few days off. He was both thankful and embarrassed that they felt the need to look after him as if he were a child (he was, and they all knew that he was the youngest of all the employees, but that didn’t stop him from putting on his Big Man act). However, a deeper, secret part of him was grateful that he was getting positive attention, that it was pure concern and affection, rather than the shouting he normally received from his parents. Even after he’d taken the three days off to catch up on both sleep and the missing assignments he had, managing to raise some of his grades higher by entire letter grades, his parents still didn’t see his hard work as good enough. But Tommy would be damned if he didn’t at least pretend the break he’d been given was the solution to nearly all his problems in front of his managers. So, Tommy did what he did best. He ramped up the energy, giving them 130% everyday, being the old, energetic and borderline annoying Tommy they were all used to.

He continued to fire back during the prank wars with the help of the rest of his team. He blasted awful, even some off-limits songs, much to the managers’ and employees’ charging alike. He raced Sapnap with the pallet lifters, Tubbo and George’s cheerful, bright, warm shrieks of joy being a stark, welcome contrast from the icy, sharp words that Tommy’s parents said to him every time he dared to be out and about the house when they were. Tommy made himself scarce in his own house, opting to lock himself away in his room, only coming out to use the bathroom, or leave for school in the mornings when he was sure his parents had already left. His parents weren’t abusive, he chided himself, they were just strict. They had high standards, which placed stifling pressure on Tommy’s young, too-thin shoulders.

Tommy briefly thought about one of those weird myths Techno was always droning on about. Atlas, the man who held the world on his shoulders. He laughed to himself bitterly at the thought as he mentally prepared to go downstairs. He wanted to grab a snack from the kitchen before work, since he was hungry and already had to walk from school, and he was pretty sure passing out while trying to get to work was usually frowned upon. So, after Tommy was sure he had his homework, phone charger, and other essentials for work, he opened his bedroom door and carefully closed it, trying to make as little noise as possible. Maybe his parents would be in their offices, or bedroom, or if he was lucky, they’d be gone. Though, he knew they were home and hadn’t heard any sort of noise to signify that they’d gone out again. No cars starting, no doors being shut a little too harshly. So, he dragged himself down the stairs (not too loudly though, he didn’t want to attract attention to himself).

When Tommy entered the kitchen, he had a small bit of pep in his step as he rounded the corner, but felt all of his excitement or joy at going to work immediately get sapped away. His mom was seated at the breakfast bar, on her laptop, an icy glare directed at Tommy. She snapped her laptop shut, and Tommy jumped a bit, though tried to push it down while she had her eyes trained on him.

“Thomas,” she hissed coldly, and he internally cringed at his full name. “What is going on with your grades right now?”

“Mom, I-I just raised them. I even brought some of them up by full letter grades, and I-“

“I just checked your grades, and saw two B’s. Your father and I expect much more from you. We can’t have you slacking off,” she jeered, cutting him off effectively. “Having anything lower than an A? Honestly Thomas, you know what we agreed your grades had to be if you wanted to keep that job of yours.”

Tommy’s eyes widened at that. He couldn’t lose his job, He’d been working there for too long, working too hard to get to head of the grocery department. He needed the money and he needed every excuse possible to be away from his house as much as he could. Tommy couldn’t help the anger that bubbled up and bursted out at the notion of losing one of the most important things in his life.

“Mom that’s completely unreasonable! I’m doing above average in EVERY class, including my honors classes! I’m sorry that you have these shitty, unreasonable-“

He was cut off by a loud smacking sound. Tommy startled and turned to see his dad in the doorway, his hand still resting where he’d hit it against the wall.

“Don’t you EVER raise your voice at your mother like that!” his father shouted, and Tommy, feeling a strange burst of bravery, shouted right back.

The shouting went on for a while. Too long. By the time Tommy had managed to get out of his house, slamming the door behind him, he was snackless, without a ride, and emotionally exhausted. He wiped his eyes of the tears that had spilled over after some particularly nasty comments had been made, before pulling out his phone. He briefly considered calling one of the older teens to pick him up, but when he looked at the time, his heart sunk to his feet. There was no way anyone could grab him to drive him to work and still have them both make it on time. He stuck to walking, but at his current pace, Tommy would be late, and he wouldn’t have the time to get something from the deli if he didn’t speed up. So, he sped along as fast as he physically could, ignoring the ache in every inch of his body, and the gnawing hunger in his gut.

———————————————————————-

When Tommy reached the store, instead of bounding through the front doors like he normally would, he tried to get through unnoticed in the back. He made his way into the break room and clocked in, then looked in the fridge. He was already late, so why not grab a snack first? But there was practically nothing, and what was in there was labeled for specific people. He spotted a snack with Tubbo’s name, and knew the brunette wouldn’t hold it against him if he took some, but he’d feel too guilty. So, Tommy just grabbed one of the rockstars he’d had stashed in the back of the fridge, and sat down at the break room table, taking fast drinks. He’d wanted food, but the caffeine would have to be enough to get him through his shift.

He’d finished his drink in record time, then went out to start getting to work. He was just about to get where he needed to be, when he ran into three familiar faces, and he felt his heart sink once again. Sapnap, George, and Dream were all walking right towards him. They didn’t notice him at first, but when they did, Dream’s face contorted in anger.

“Tommy! Where the Hell WERE you?! I get it, this is just some after school gig that you do so you can get some quick cash, and you could care less about everything, but we put a lot of trust in you here!” Dream shouted, not wasting a second to hound on Tommy for being late. “I know you’re a kid, we all do, but we thought you were mature enough to handle everything we’re throwing at you, but I guess not. Maybe we’ll have to treat you like the misbehaving child you are and take away your title as head of the grocery department, since you can’t even be bothered to show up on time!”

Tommy froze. He’d already curled in on himself so much as Dream had went on, so now he stood there, trembling only slightly as he stared at his manager, who was huffing to catch his breath after delivering the scolding. It took Tommy a moment, but he immediately jumped to apologize once he’d gathered himself enough to.

“I-I’m really sorry, I had to walk to work today and I just needed a second to get ready, I’m really-really sorry, it won’t happen again, please don’t make me stop being head of the grocery department. It’s the one thing I really love doing, please, Dream,” Tommy begged, pleading with his superior. Sapnap and George looked between each other, immediately concerned.

Dream scoffed a bit, with a reminder to not let it happen again, and the trio went on their way to the break room. Once they got inside, George closed the door behind them and sat at the table with his two friends.

“Don’t you think you were a bit harsh to Tommy?” George asked, frowning.

“He’s usually on top of everything he needs to be, and he manages to fit his fun in without impeding on his performance. One slip up isn’t the end of the world, dude,” Sapnap added. 

Dream looked at them, and let out a sigh. “You two are right. Today’s just been super shitty,, and he was the first person there, and-“

It dawned on him just how angry he’d gotten at Tommy.

“I told him I’d take away his position. Fuck, why did I do that! What the fuck, oh god, I need to fix this,” Dream muttered, partially to himself. “He’s one of the best there is, christ, I shouldn’t have berated him like that, he’s just a kid. But-but not how I said it earlier, I mean.”

That elicited a small chuckle from the other two men in the room.

“Just… make sure to apologize him at the end of the day, or if you catch him during a break,” George said, while Sapnap nodded in agreement. Dream only hoped that the younger blonde didn’t take it too seriously.

———————————————————————-

Tommy moved sluggishly through his shift. His movements were getting more clumsy and he kept nearly dropping crates of produce, but managed to keep himself upright. Everyone noticed something was up. Tommy sent everyone his signature smile when they glanced worriedly in his direction, expressions full of concern. He couldn’t stand it. The pity looks were suffocating. He saw one of the regulars shoot him one, and immediately he tried to ramp up the energy, but he was just _so tired_ and his stomach was aching, and his whole body was trembling. Tommy had thought that the rockstar would help give him a boost, but he was just shaky and sore.

He went through the motions of completing what needed to be done, while still trying to interact with the regulars and his fellow employees. It felt like ages had passed, but when Tommy glanced at his phone, he saw he was close to his break. The idea was enough to make him almost tear up (he didn’t of course, Big Men were better than that). His stomach was already overjoyed at the thought of getting something from the deli or bakery. So, after practically speed running the rest of his time before his half hour break, he felt a buzz of his phone alarm in his pocket and finished unloading a new delivery.

As he was getting up from where he was crouched putting away the items, he felt his vision swim, and he practically shoved himself against the wall to keep himself standing. Wilbur saw him from the other side of the room and frowned, walking towards the boy he considered a brother.

“Hey, Toms, you alright?” Wilbur asked, genuine concern in his voice and expression.

“Of course, Big Man! Just a- just a bit tired, is all. I didn’t get much sleep, too busy with ladies all-“

“O-kay,” Wilbur chuckled, drawing out the “o” sound. “Well, it’s your break, right? Go rest in the break room. No energy drinks, okay? Just take a minute.”

Tommy smiled a softer smile at his pseudo brother than he’d shown almost anyone else. “Thanks, Wilby.”

Tommy took a second to really steady himself after Wilbur had gone back to working, then made his way to the break room. His stomach was killing him, as was the rest of his body, and he didn’t know if he could face Dream or the other managers after what happened. He just hoped that they were busy doing something, and very much not in the break room. When Tommy opened the door, he was relieved to see nobody else was inside except Ranboo, whose presence only made Tommy smile that much more genuinely.

“If it isn’t my favorite giant!” Tommy beamed, chuckling as he made his way over to the lockers and grabbed his backpack, rifling through it.

“Hello, Tommy,” Ranboo rolled his eyes with a smile, watching the younger boy as he dramatically cheered when he grabbed out a ten dollar bill from his wallet. “Why are you excited about ten dollars? I know you’re a fan of that musical, but getting excited over a piece of paper-“

“Oh come off it,” Tommy chuckled and took his turn to roll his own eyes. “D’ya want to come with me to get something from the deli or bakery? My treat.”

Ranboo considered for a moment, then stood up, shrugging. “You don’t need to get me anything, I already had a wrap, but I’ll come along.”

“Of course you already got one of those damn chicken wraps,” Tommy rolled his eyes again, then smiled at his friend, who also had laughed a bit at Tommy’s reaction to his predictability.

The teens made their way out of the break room, and towards the deli. The store was a bit slower right then, so there wasn’t any sort of line for the deli, like there usually was. As much as Tommy had wanted to immediately go to the bakery, he knew he needed something of more substance, and he didn’t want to run out of time to go to the deli if they went to the bakery first and the line was long as it usually was. Phil saw the two boys and his face lit up.

“Hello, Ranboo, hey there, Tommy!” the older man changed his gloves and took a moment to really look at them. “Oi, Tommy, mate, are you feeling alright?”

“‘Course I am! Why wouldn’t I be? God, you’re such a dad sometimes, Phil,” Tommy teased, sticking out his tongue, but Phil was still frowning slightly, and Tommy noticed Ranboo looked a bit more nervous than before, and he wasn’t being very good at masking his concern.

“What? What did I do?” He felt his heart start racing. He couldn’t stand the quiet pity. Tommy almost wished they’d yell at him or fuck off.

Phil came out from behind the counter, gloves off, and put a hand on Tommy’s shoulder. “You’re shaking like a leaf, kiddo. Why don’t you go back to the break room, and Ranboo will bring back your usual, okay?”

“I-I’m completely fine! I don’t need any pity!” Tommy barked at them, but he felt his own body shaking intensely from the effort. When Ranboo awkwardly wrapped an arm around Tommy’s shoulders and led him back to the break room, there was no attempt to stop him. Tommy was far too tired, and closing his eyes for a bit sounded nice. The two teens reached the break room, which was still empty, thankfully. Tommy sat back at his spot by the table and started to pull out his homework, but Ranboo put a hand on his backpack.

“Tommy, just take a second, okay? I’ll be right back with your sandwich,” Ranboo awkwardly left the room, and Tommy immediately started working on his homework. 

At the very least he needed to get his first block homework done. The rest he could manage to do in between classes, but he couldn’t have any more missing assignments, but he also couldn’t afford to not sleep, otherwise the managers would be on his case again. Thinking about Dream made him shudder lightly as he worked on the paper in front of him. It was an easy enough assignment, but when he pulled out homework from his next class, the words started to swim in front of him. He blinked a few times, trying to will it away, but stopped when he heard the door open and saw Ranboo holding a carefully wrapped up sandwich.

“Thanks, Big Man! I really appreciate it,” Tommy beamed at him, but Ranboo was frowning when he looked at his expression, and Tommy suppressed the urge to shrink in on himself.

“Tommy, just take a break from the homework and eat, rest a little, okay? I’ve gotta get back to work, but promise you’ll just take it easy,” the taller boy asked, and Tommy couldn’t deny Ranboo.

“Of course! No need to worry about me, I’ll be fit as a fiddle or whatever that bonkers fucking expression is!” Tommy got to his feet, smiling, and just about pushed Ranboo out the door. As much as he valued the older boy and their friendship, he couldn’t stand that pitying look one more time.

Looking at the sandwich wrapped up in the spot next to him on the table, Tommy considered devouring the whole thing, but he really needed to get through a good part of his homework, and he only had twenty minutes left. So, he decided to put the sandwich in the fridge and get back to homework. His writing was getting progressively worse, but it wasn’t as if he was known for his elegant handwriting, and the particular teacher didn’t grade on correctness or neatness, just completion, which Tommy would probably always be grateful for, with the way his schedule was. He got through half of his homework, when he felt his eyes start to droop. Though he wanted to go to the fridge and chug a rockstar, he didn’t want to disappoint Wilbur, so instead he put his head in his arms on the table and set an alarm for his break to end. Before too long, he was asleep

.

———————————————————————-

Despite what the others pretended or joked, Dream wasn’t stupid, and he was rather observant to everything that happened around the store. He noticed on days when Ranboo would come in looking particularly beat down, or when Niki was overwhelmed with the demands in the bakery, or when a particular department needed to be shown some appreciation. However, he felt really stupid when George and Sapnap both pulled him aside towards the end of what he knew was all of the teenagers’ shift. George had a frown on his face, and his glasses were pushed up, while Sapnap just seemed disappointed.

“Dream, man, you need to go talk to Tommy,” Sapnap said, getting to the point immediately. Dream appreciated how blunt the other man normally was.

“He looked awful during his shift. He kept nearly falling over, and he looked just… well, he looked bad, to put it nicely,” George shifted his weight, crossing his arms. “I think I saw him head into the break room not that long ago.”

Dream sighed. He felt awful for taking out his bad day on a kid, especially a kid who happened to be one of the hardest workers in the entire store.

“Yeah, yeah I’ll go talk to him right now,” Dream walked towards the break room. “Thanks, guys.”

They waved him off, and Dream stepped inside, expecting to see Tommy nursing a rockstar and doing homework, or maybe even playing on his phone. What he didn’t expect was to see the teen with his head in his arms, clearly asleep, his phone with an alarm set for the end of his break. Dream thought for a moment, but decided he needed to wake him up. He could always send him home early so he could get some proper sleep. Dream put a hand on Tommy’s shoulder, which made him jump awake, looking at Dream slightly alarmed as he caught his breath.

Dream himself felt the air leave his lungs when he saw Tommy’s face. His eyes had bags under them again, and while they weren’t nearly as bad as they had been all those weeks ago, they were still present, and his eyes looked a bit puffy, though there weren’t any wet spots on his sleeves, or tear tracks, so Dream took the puffiness as him just having woken up.

“Hey, kiddo. Are you feeling okay?” Dream asked carefully. He knew Tommy hated pity, but he was worried. “I came here to apologize for earlier.”

Tommy, who had been staring at Dream blankly after waking up, immediately looked confused. “Why? You-you weren’t wrong, when you said all that, and I promise I’ll try harder. I’m really sorry for falling asleep, I’ll end my break right now and-“

Dream put a hand on his shoulder yet again, stopping him mid sentence and from bolting out the door. “Tommy, I came to apologize because I was way out of line. I had a bad day, and I unfairly took that out on you. You’re one of the hardest workers here, and you have done more than enough to deserve your title, and I couldn’t imagine having a different head of the grocery department. I’m really sorry for snapping at you. Being late one time doesn’t warrant that kind of punishment or scolding when you hardly did anything wrong. Are we cool?”

While Dream was expecting the younger boy to practically jump up and excitedly give him a high five, or even shout at him in a jesting manner, he didn’t expect Tommy to burst into tears. Dream rushed to grab a chair and pull it next to Tommy’s, putting an arm around him.

“Tommy? Hey, Tommy, I need you to take deep breaths and tell me what’s wrong,” Dream tried to comfort him, but he was at a bit of a loss. Tommy was never this vulnerable with the rest of his friends and coworkers, with the exception of Tubbo and Wilbur, and sometimes Phil. Dream briefly considered grabbing Tubbo or Wilbur, but he knew he had to take the lead with this.

“I-I’m so _stressed and tired_ , Big- Big Man. My parents have these- these crazy high expectations and I’m trying to keep up with it all but they make it impossible and I’m so tired of coming home and being yelled at for not being good enough even though I’m trying so hard and-and I’m afraid to even be in the same room as them sometimes, y’know? I’m just so tired of the yelling and not being enough for them,” Tommy rambled on between sobs, hardly taking a breath. He was hyperventilating at that part, so Dream began to exaggerate his breathing.

“Tommy, kiddo, I need you to breathe with me,” He took a deep breath and held it, before letting it out dramatically, until Tommy started mirroring him. The teen looked absolutely wrecked after he’d caught his breath, staring at the table in front of him like it was the most fascinating thing in the world. Dream just started talking again.

“Your shift is almost over, right?” Tommy nodded, and Dream’s eyes flicked across his hunched over, too thin form. “Just take the rest of it to relax in here, okay? Don’t worry about it. Do you have anything to eat?”

Tommy gave a noncommittal shrug and pointed at the fridge. Dream opened it and saw a carefully wrapped deli sandwich with Tommy’s name and a smiley face written on it in sharpie, which Dream knew was Phil’s work. The older man handed Tommy the sandwich and watched as he opened it with shaky hands.

“Make sure you eat that, and then you can keep napping okay?” Dream looked at Tommy, who looked like he was about to protest, but just nodded, since his mouth was full, and Dream left the room, sighing immediately after he’d shut the door behind himself. He startled slightly when he saw George and Sapnap waiting there.

“That didn’t sound great,” George said pointedly, and Sapnap hummed in agreement. The trio made their way away from the break room, and started to form a plan.

  
  


———————————————————————-

Tommy went into work the next day, still worn out, but he’d been able to avoid his parents, and his teachers actually didn’t assign that much work, as if they knew that Tommy needed it. He’d still had to walk to work, but he didn’t need to stop home, and he’d walked with his friends. Tubbo, Purpled, and Ranboo all were acting a bit strange, but he supposed he was acting a bit differently than usual as well, so he had no place to talk.

“You go ahead and clock in, yesterday we said we’d help George with something before work,” Tubbo smiled at Tommy as they passed by the break room.

“Oh uh… okay,” Tommy shrugged, smiling at his friends, who made their ways towards George, who was hanging out not too far away from the break room. Tommy ignored their weird behavior and went inside, where Sapnap, Dream, and Wilbur were all hanging out, and when they noticed Tommy, they all perked up a bit, but stayed quiet. That was definitely weird. He was sure that Dream would’ve told at least Wilbur about what happened yesterday. Tommy walked over to his locker and opened it, only for goodies and notes to spill out.

“What the- ?!” Tommy backed up, and the three men in the room beamed as Tommy looked at the sight in front of him. 

There were notes with encouraging words, or those of appreciation, and there were a few of his favorite kinds of energy drinks, along with a few stuffed animals (he knew immediately they were from Tubbo and Niki). He started to tear up, a wide smile on his face, and he wiped at his eyes in an attempt to stop the steady flow of happy tears. Before he knew it, Tommy was wrapped in a hug, and he felt as more and more arms wrapped around him. He looked up to see most of his friends surrounding him, and he smiled, taking in the comfort and appreciation. He knew those people were his real family.

**Author's Note:**

> and 4.4k words later...
> 
> i hope you all enjoyed :-) this was so fun to write, i really love this AU!


End file.
